Tennis News

The season behind us offered everything — from tennis fashion extravagance to classic sporty designs, from retro pieces to experiments with modern trends, from neutral colors to vibrant tones. Let’s give the word to our fashion contributor Marija Zivlak of Women’s Tennis Blog and see which outfits are the most memorable from 2016.

1. Serena’s Nike crop tops

In the last two decades, Serena Williams has made a profound mark on tennis fashion with her daring outfits and in her 21st pro season the American continued to push the boundaries.

Williams made a style bang at the first Grand Slam of the season, rocking a vibrant yellow Nike crop top, functionally and aesthetically enhanced by an open hole mesh at back and rounded side vents, and a super lightweight skirt, whose Breathe material gave an additional twist to the all-around pleats.

In Indian Wells and Miami, Williams showcased an omega blue version of the mind-blowing outfit, continuing to show how well crop tops work in tennis fashion.

2. adidas’ zebra print

One of the most memorable collection of the season is definitely Adidas’ Roland Garros “zebra”. Designed by Japanese Yohji Yamamoto, who found inspiration in dazzle painting used for ship camouflage in World War I and World War II, the Y-3 collection was the talk of Roland Garros with its eye-catching black and white print bringing a sense of movement and fluidity.

The fearless designer went for the bold print all the way, so not even the shoes from the collection calmed down the look.

3. Serena’s Wimbledon whites

Brands usually make their designs stand out with busy patterns, but Wimbledon’s all-white clothing rule always forces tennis apparel companies to find ways to create outstanding designs that don’t rely on the power of color and Serena Williams’ Nike dress for the grass-court Grand Slam is a perfect example of how a few well thought-out details can make a simple clothing piece outstanding.

The American’s Wimbledon dress stole our hearts with its elegant half turtleneck, flirty tiered pleated skirt and classic sporty racerback.

4. Venus’ EleVen Prism collection

Venus Williams likes to challenge her competition with prints and her Prism collection for the US Open was the most beautiful colorful design of the year. Introducing fall, the EleVen Prism Chela Dress features the season’s cool tones, but vibrant colors of summer are also there to lift our spirits for a tough match or training.

5. adidas’ US Open geometric prints

Adidas closed the season with what is in my opinion an overall best collection of 2016, inspired by the New York City skyscrapers. The collection’s main features include the triangular print, a perfect ratio of bright colors to cooler tones, and specific racerback design. What adidas did with absolute success here is offer a lot of variety, with the collection’s leitmotifs present in every clothing item.

Angelique Kerber climbed to the world number one ranking at the US Open wearing the adidas Fall Pro Tank in flash red and the adidas Fall Pro Skirt, whose geometric print represents the world’s most famous cityscape.

Simona Halep paired a tech steel version of the adidas Fall Pro Tank with the adidas Fall Pro Short, whose white mesh layer makes it the most spectacular tennis shorts we’ve had in recent years.

Ana Ivanovic rocked this gorgeous adidas Fall Pro Dress, which stands out with the way its colorblock racerback design is executed.

6. Stella McCartney’s soft color palette

The season’s best tennis clothes in pale colors were from Stella McCartney’s summer collection. Soft yellow and lilac, subtle floral print and hexagon-shaped laser-cut details characterize the separates sported by Andrea Petkovic, Caroline Wozniacki and Garbine Muguruza. Another lovely item from the collection is the adidas Summer Stella McCartney Tour Dress promoted by Wozniacki.

7. New Balance’s vibrant sportiness

The best youthful sporty look of the season included the New Balance Spring Tournament Tank, unique for its spaghetti straps with an Y-back, matched with the New Balance Spring Reversible Skirt or the New Balance Spring Tournament Skirt. Heather Watson and Nicole Gibbs energized the courts with their juicy orange combined with azalea.

8. Fila’s Heritage collection

Fila was very prolific in 2016 and they even launched a colorful collaboration with Marion Bartoli, but their best collection happened late in the season, at the US Open, featuring Jelena Jankovic’s and Yaroslava Shvedova’s Fila Heritage Stripe Dress, a harmonious marriage between modern blurred stripes and retro feel brought by the simple cut and red head tie.

Karolina Pliskova made her first Grand Slam final in the basic Fila Heritage Racerback Tank and the Fila Heritage Skirt.

Which style is your 2016 top choice?

BRISBANE, Australia – Just days into the new season and they’ve already hit another milestone – Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza won their 25th match in a row at the Brisbane International on Friday.

Watch live action from Brisbane, Shenzhen & Auckland on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Hingis and Mirza, the No.1-ranked team in the world and top seeds at the Premier-level tournament, faced some resistance – Andreja Klepac and Alla Kudryavtseva, the No.4 seeds, jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and, after dropping the first set, were a game away from winning the second set up 5-4.

But Hingis and Mirza did all the right things at all the right times and closed it out, 6-3, 7-5.

“I think we’re off to a great start in the new season,” Hingis said. “We never really felt like we finished in 2015 – I played the Indian league and Sania played IPTL, so we still kind of kept our routine.

“We’re really happy to have the possibility to be in another final, and win another title.”

Hingis and Mirza’s 25-match winning streak, which has brought them five titles in a row at the US Open, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing and the WTA Finals, is the longest winning streak since Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci’s 25 in a row in 2012 – the Italians also won five titles in a row, at Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, the French Open and ‘s-Hertogenbosch (the winning streak was snapped at Wimbledon).

“It’s been a long time since we’ve lost, but it’s never easy to start a new season, especially when you’re coming off such a great season. Everyone’s gunning for us – we’re the hunted,” Mirza commented.

“We’re just taking it one match at a time, staying positive, and picking up from where we left off.”

To find the last doubles team to win more than 25 matches in a row you have to go all the way back to the 1994 season, when Gigi Fernández and Natasha Zvereva rattled off 28 victories in a row.

The other semifinal, which took place later in the day, saw German wildcards Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic take out Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja, 2-6, 6-3, 10-2.

Hingis and Mirza will face the all-German team for the first time in the final Saturday night.

.@MHingis & @MirzaSania extend winning streak to 25 matches–> https://t.co/gW3guYjfnJ #WTA pic.twitter.com/SkIb8MUNVr

— WTA (@WTA) January 8, 2016

Daria Gavrilova’s Australia Green brought home the Hopman Cup title, sweeping Ukraine and ending the country’s 17-year wait for the trophy.

The newly-minted Australian – who last year was voted WTA Newcomer Of The Year – won the hearts of the exuberant home crowd with her gutsy performance against Elina Svitolina in the final. After winning the first set 6-4, Gavrilova found herself trailing behind 6-1 in the second-set tiebreak.

She went on to win seven straight points to secure the victory.

“I just literally told myself to settle down, just stop thinking of everything,” Gavrilova said after the win. “Just think about how to win every point.

“I just played free.”

Gavrilova’s Australia Green partner Nick Kyrgios went on to secure the title in the mixed-team event, beating Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 6-4 in the men’s singles rubber.

Though the Hopman Cup is Gavrilova’s first trophy for Australia, she’s earned herself another accolade, a rite of passage for every Australian athlete: an Aussie nickname. The crowd calls her “Dash” – a play on “Dasha,” the Russian nickname for “Daria,” and also a nod to the 21-year-old’s aggressive and unrelenting style of play.

“It means so much,” Gavrilova said of playing in the Hopman Cup.

“It’s just amazing that I got to represent Australia here.”

Thank you everyone for supporting us once again! Big thanks to @TennisAustralia ? @NickKyrgios you were amazing, thank you!

— Daria Gavrilova (@Daria_gav) January 9, 2016